1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of conditional access devices created by a pointing device integrating one or several couplers for microcircuit cards.
The device is designed to carry out transactions secured by microcircuit cards, to identify the cardholder and/or to check different stages of transactions.
The applications mainly concern conditional access to the resources of host equipment, conditional access to available resources on external equipment with which the host equipment is linked or connected, and the management of software operating licenses stored in the host equipment or in the external equipment with which the host equipment is linked or connected.
The meaning of `microcircuit card` is a support, generally a card, comprising one or several integrated circuits executing processing functions and/or smart cards or microprocessor cards, commonly known as `chip cards`. Contactless cards or PCMCIA cards are examples of these microcircuit cards.
The meaning of "microcircuit card coupler" is any means of operating a signal exchange interface between hardware and a microcircuit card, according to standardized or specific communication protocols. Signal exchange can be carried out by an electrical connection or a wireless link such as an electromagnetic or light link.
By "host equipment" we mean a computer terminal, a workstation, a personal computer, a multimedia terminal, and particularly but by no means exclusively, all the above-mentioned equipment comprising means of bidirectional connection, all be it temporary or permanent, to a local or public communications network.
The term "pointing device" means any manually operated device with which the user acts upon visual objects. It is intended to be used with interactive host equipment having a screen and a user's graphical interface for visual objects. Examples include an optomechanical mouse pointer, an optical mouse needing a special mat, a ball or track ball, a digitizing stylus or a cursor, a touch pointer, a stick or joystick, or a remote control lever system for CD-I.
2. Discussion of the Background
The peripheral devices work conjointly with the equipment they command and with which they are connected by the intermediary of a RS232, USB communication port or an equivalent system, or in other cases they are linked by wireless transmission, for example by infrared or microwave links. In certain instances, especially when the host equipment is a portable computer, these devices are integrated into the equipment, even though the device represents a self-contained unit.
Generally, they are easily interchangeable devices because most host equipment manufacturers have adopted common standards. They are also relatively cheap in relation to the host equipment and can be replaced by a similar device independently of the host equipment without difficulty.
It has been suggested in the state of the art to integrate a microcircuit card connector into certain peripheral pointing devices. Such was the case in European Patent No. 485,275 and German Patent No. 4,326,735. The peripheral device described in the European Patent represents the closest state of the art device. It comprises a microcircuit card connector directly linked to the common leads between the computer and the peripheral devices, allowing both signal exchange relative to the pointing functions and signal exchange for the operation of safety functions associated with the microcircuit card. The peripheral devices act in a transparent way between the microcircuit card and the computer with which it is connected. No processing occurs in the peripheral device, which only ensures the electrical link between the microcircuit card and the computer. Thus, the whole personal identification code keyin process is done in the host equipment; such processing is inconvenient and constitutes a major disadvantage to the commercial development of public networks such as the INTERNET.
Indeed, today's host equipment is almost always linked to at least one network, either inside an organization or to a public network like the INTERNET. It is therefore possible, and even easy, for a third party to connect himself to the host equipment and examine the data processed by it. There are technical solutions to filter accessible data from third parties, but these solutions are in contradiction to most user's spirit of openness and their wish to raise the level of communication. They also require complex arbitration to gain optimal performance which is generally beyond the scope of the average user.